THE INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC

SECRETARIES OF KENYA (ICPSK)

DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPANY SECRETARIAL
PROFESSION IN KENYA


PRESENTED BY:

MR. JACKSON K. MAINGI (FCPSK)
CHAIRMAN, ICPSK
AT THE 36
TH
NATIONAL CONVENTION OF COMPANY SECRETARIES
HELD AT PANAJI, GOA, INDIA
ON NOVEMBER 6 8, 2008

EVOLUTION OF THE PROFESSION
IN KENYA
The evolution of the Company
Secretarial profession in Kenya is traced
to the establishment of the Kenya
Accountants and Secretaries National
Examinations Board (KASNEB) in 1969.
The Board came into being through an
Administrative Order under the auspices
of the Directorate of Personnel
Management, Office of the President.
Cont.
The mandate of KASNEB was to
examine both Certified Public
Accountants and Certified Public
Secretaries. KASNEB was included as
an institutional structure in the
Accountants Act, Cap 531 Laws of
Kenya, in July 1977.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
INSTITUTE
The Certified Public Secretaries of
Kenya Act 1988 (Cap 534) established
the Institute of Certified Public
Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK) and the
Registration of Certified Public
Secretaries Board (RCPSB).

VISION
To be a leader in good
Governance in both Public and
Private Institutions and a
centre of excellence in
Company Secretarial Practice,
Management and
Administration.
MISSION
The Institute aims to promote and
support good Corporate and
Institutional Governance and to
enhance professional competence of
its members through continuous
professional development in Company
Secretarial Practice, Public and
Private Sector Business Management
and Administration.
STRUCTURE OF THE
INSTITUTE

The Institute is run by a Council consisting of
members who are elected by the general
membership during the annual general meeting,
to occupy these positions. Each council member
is elected to office for 3 years and retire by
rotation.

The general membership elects the Chairman of
the Council on annual basis, who is supposed to
preside over all the meetings of the Council.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE INSTITUTE
The Institute has continued to grow from
strength to strength and the following are the
positive attributes that have contributed
to that: -

(i) Strong Legal framework
As mentioned above, the Institute is
established through an Act of Parliament.
Further the current Companies Act, Cap 486 of
the Laws of Kenya, requires all companies
incorporated in Kenya to employ the services
of a qualified Company Secretary.
Developments Cont
(ii) Acquisition of Institutes own
premises
The Institute acquired its own premises
in the year 2006. This will be developed
into modern office facilities as well have
adequate space for a training and
research centre, which will further propel
the growth of the Institute.
Developments Cont
(iii) Members valuing the
professional designation

The image of the Institute has been
improving with time and the members
now value the professional
designation CPS. This is sure to
improve the enrolment levels of
students and to further improve the
image of the Institute.
Developments Cont
(iv) Membership to the International
Federation of Company
Secretaries

Global growth is envisaged through
the International Federation of
Company Secretaries.
CHALLENGES FACED BY THE
INSTITUTE
(i) To have all persons qualified to be
registered.
Currently, the registered members are
2,200. Kenya still has a large number of
qualified CPSs not yet registered with the
Institute. This is a big challenge. Majority
of them do not work as Company
Secretaries and are not required under the
Statute to become members.
Challenges Cont.
(ii) Compliance with the requirement of
Continuous Professional Development
(CPD).
Each member is required to clock 20 CPD
credit hours per year. Only about 20% of
current members comply with the CPD
requirement. The Institute is currently
working out modalities of ensuring
compliance.
Challenges Cont.
(iii) Financial Capability
The Institute continually faces inadequacy
of resources to support its programmes.
This is because it has continued to rely on
membership subscription fees, which are
not adequate to finance all the
developmental requirements of the
profession. The Institute is currently
thinking of ways and means to diversify its
resource base.
Challenges Cont.
(iv) Research Capacity

The Secretariat lacks an adequate
Technical capacity to undertake research.
This is because it is unable to expand due
to resource constraints as explained in (iii)
above.
Challenges Cont.
(v) Practice Management
There is lack of strong practice control in
the profession to ensure that only bona
fide members are allowed to practice,
especially in the filing of Annual Returns
and being employed as Company
Secretaries in various Corporations. The
Institute has stationed a Desk Officer at
the Companies Registry to try and curb the
situation.
Challenges Cont.
(vi) Lack of focus on core business of the
profession.

The Certified Public Secretaries syllabus is
not fully focused on the profession as it
heavily borrows from other professions.
KASNEB is however undertaking a major
review to address this challenge.
Challenges Cont.
(vii) Review of the Companies Act

The Kenyan Companies Act is currently
being reviewed. One of the proposals is
that private companies should not be
required to have a Company Secretary.
This poses a major threat to the profession
since these companies form the bulk of the
work for Company Secretaries.
Challenges Cont.
(viii) Corporate Governance Initiative

The Institute continues to face stiff
competition from other bodies in the
corporate governance initiative. In Kenya,
there is the Centre for Corporate
Governance and the Institute of Directors,
both of which drive the Corporate
Governance initiative.
LOCATION OF THE SECRETARIAT

CPS Governance Centre
Kilimanjaro Road, Off Mara Road,
Upper Hill
P.O. Box 46935 00100,Nairobi.
Tel.: 020 3597840/2
E-mail: icpsk@wananchi.com.
Website: www.icpsk.com